Surprise?
by Meepalicious
Summary: A curious, young Elrond and Elros decide to find out when Maedhros' Begetting Day is, and the two come up with a plan to celebrate. The question of whether of not all will go according to this plan, however, is another matter entirely...
1. Chapter 1

Surprise?

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own The Silmarillion or any of the characters in this piece. It all belongs to J.R.R. Tolkien.**

Elrond had many, _many _memories of his childhood, though not all were pleasant. Elrond's favorite memories often involved Elros; his curious, outspoken, determined and adventurous brother. Elrond and Elros had always been very close when the two were young, and often had very similar trains of thought. Most often, this similar mindset would result in Elros setting out to find the answer to whatever question they had posed, dragging Elrond along with him (regardless of the fact that Elrond would have gone with him willingly).

One particular memory of an adventure brought about by Elros' curiosity would always stand out in Elrond's mind. And Elrond would always smile looking back on it.

*Page Break*

It had all begun with a question. It was such a simple one, really. Yet one neither elfling had thought to ask before. Elrond and Elros had been sitting in their room, bored. Heavy rain uncharacteristic of the cold seasons had kept the elflings indoors for the last three days, and it was beginning to visibly irritate them both, despite the fact that Elrond's annoyance was less openly shown than his brother's.

"Elrond. When is Maedhros' Begetting Day?" Elros asked suddenly, head snapping up as he looked away from his fingers tracing invisible patterns on the floor and to his twin. Elrond looked up from the book he had been reading.

"I…I do not know." Elrond replied, furrowing his eyebrows. "Why?" he asked.

"You do not know?" Elros asked, eyes widening almost comically in shock. _But Elrond knows everything! …Or, nearly everything…Everything written down in the books he loves so well! _Elros thought, noting that Elrond had been reading. Again.

"No. I do not." Elrond replied calmly. "Though, now that you bring it up, I would like to. What made you ask in the first place?" Elrond asked, looking back to Elros curiously.

"Well, I was thinking. We know that Maglor's Begetting day is the twenty fifth day of _iavas_, and ours is the fifteenth day of _ethuil. _We celebrate our Begetting Day every year, and Maglor's too. At the very least we try to get him something he will like. But I can't recall ever celebrating Maedhros's Begetting Day. _Ever._" Elros stated, nodding his head slightly to emphasize the last word.

Elrond's eyebrows furrowed again, and Elros could tell he was searching his memory for any indication of Maedhros's Begetting Day. When Elrond said he could not find any memory of the occasion either, he and Elros looked at one another and silently agreed that they could not allow such a situation to continue.

"We have to find out when Maedhros' Begetting Day is now. We _have to._" Elros stated determinedly.

"How will we do that? We have never celebrated it before, and I cannot remember any other sign of it. It would seem like no one knows." Elrond observed.

"True. There hasn't even been a cake! How can you have a Begetting Day celebration without cake? " Elros exclaimed. Elrond shook his head slightly. Elros had quite the sweet tooth, and it was quite obvious at times like these. Both elflings soon became lost in thought, unsure of what to do next.

"I suppose we could ask Maglor when Maedhros' Begetting Day is." Elros broke the silence that had fallen over the room.

"I suppose…" Elrond responded warily. He was not sure he liked where this train of thought seemed to be going, though he had been thinking something similar.

"I think we should. We could celebrate his Begetting Day if we knew when it was. It would be fun, would it not?" Elros asked.

"Hmm." Elrond hummed. "And it would not be fair to forget about Maedhros. We celebrate Maglor's Begetting Day every year, and they both celebrate ours and get us gifts." Elrond explained.

"It would also be a nice thing to do, because Maedhros does a lot to look after us too." Elros added. Elrond nodded in agreement.

"True. I suppose celebrating Maedhros' Begetting Day would be fun, as you said. There may be cake enough to satisfy even your sweet tooth." Elrond teased, smiling good-naturedly.

Elros, who had moved to sit beside Elrond on his bed, grabbed a nearby pillow and proceeded to hit Elrond with it. Suddenly, he grinned broadly and a mischievous glint entered his eyes. Elrond's smile fell.

"I've given you an idea, haven't I?" Elrond asked.

"Yes, you have." Elros replied.

"What is this idea of yours?" Elrond asked, almost afraid of the answer.

"I cannot tell you now. It is a surprise! But I shall need your help. We need to find Maglor. Now." Elros answered, standing up and pulling Elrond with him.

The two elflings ran through the keep, Elros still half-dragging Elrond, looking for the one they had begun to think of as a foster-father. Elros suddenly skidded to a stop in front of Maglor's room, causing Elrond to bump into him. The two glanced at each other for a moment before Elrond reached out and knocked on the door.

When Maglor did not answer, Elros furrowed his eyebrows and pushed the door open. After a moment of hesitation (it was not often that they were in Maglor's rooms, and Maglor was always with them when they were), the two slowly stepped into the room. A blue Fëanorian lamp hung above the desk, but otherwise the room was dark and empty. All other doors were shut.

"Maglor?" Elros called hesitantly.

"He is not here, Elros." Elrond replied after a moment.

"Where is he?" Elros asked.

"I do not know where he would be." Elrond responded, grey eyes scanning the room again.

"Then we will continue looking." Elros stated, and he and Elrond left.

They wandered the stone halls for a time, still searching. Elrond was about to suggest they ask one of the passing elves where Maglor was when the sound of a harp being played reached his ears. Both he and Elros froze for a long moment, listening. The sound was soft, yet the melody was persistent and would not be entirely ignored. It was mesmerizing, and reminded Elrond of the rain falling outside. He could have stood and listened to the music all day.

Suddenly, Elros seemed to remember what he had been doing. He started towards the sound, pulling Elrond along with an exclamation of 'Come on!' The elflings ran through the keep towards the sound of the music, ignoring the other elves giving them strange looks as they darted past, and trying not to flinch at the occasional rumble of thunder outside.

Eventually, they found Maglor sitting in the sill of a large window with a small harp in his lap. Both elflings skidded to a stop, mesmerized by the music once again. Suddenly the music ceased and Elros frowned slightly

"Hello Elrond, Elros." Maglor greeted, turning towards the elflings.

"How long have you known we were here?" Elrond asked before he could check himself.

"I have known since you arrived. I heard your footsteps running this way." Maglor replied.

"Oh." Elrond muttered. Maglor smiled slightly.

"Speaking of which, what brings you here? I was under the impression you two were in your rooms." Maglor continued.

"We needed to talk to you, and we could not find you in your rooms. So we went looking and ran here when we heard your music." Elros said quickly.

"I see." Maglor responded, nodding slightly. "You were in my rooms?" he asked suddenly, raising an eyebrow at the twins. Elrond winced internally.

"Well…Yes. We were. We were looking for you! We need to speak with you." Elrond replied, choking on his words under the intense look Maglor was giving them (and entirely missing the small, amused smile that made its way onto Maglor's face).

"Ah." Maglor stated.

Elrond and Elros glanced at each other, slightly panicked. Was he angry at them? They did not know, for Maglor's face had suddenly taken a neutral expression. Suddenly, he chuckled. They immediately looked back to him.

"Do not look so frightened! I am not angry with you. I am simply curious. What did you need to speak to me of?" Maglor explained. Elrond glanced expectantly at his brother.

"When is Maedhros' Begetting Day?" Elros asked bluntly. Maglor raised an eyebrow again.

"It is on the fiftieth day of _rhíw_. Why do you ask?" he replied.

"That is only three days away!" Elros exclaimed.

"We wanted to know so that we could do something nice for him, since he does so much for us and we have never celebrated his Begetting Day before that we can remember." Elrond explained at nearly the same time. Maglor seemed shocked for a moment, but quickly recovered, smiling at the two elflings staring up at him.

"What do you plan to do?" Maglor replied.

"We cannot tell you. It is meant to be a surprise." Elros stated seriously.

"Very well. That is very thoughtful of you both. I am sure Maedhros will appreciate that." Maglor told them.

Elrond gave a small smile and Elros grinned broadly before asking Maglor not to tell Maedhros about their plan. Elros then scurried off with his brother close behind. Maglor laughed softly as he stared after them. _They are planning more than they let on. What will that be I wonder? _He thought.

**Author's Note: According to the Calender of Imladris and the Lord of the Rings wiki (*hangs head in shame for using the wiki*), the only calendar of the elves I could find, the elves use a six season calendar. **_**Ethuil **_**is spring, **_**Iavas **_**is autumn and **_**Rhíw **_**is winter. If any other seasons are mentioned, I will let you know. This mini-fic will be a two, possibly three, chapter deal and was inspired by a combination of art I saw online, a rather odd conversation I had with the fantastic StoryTeller96 and absolute boredom. READ AND REVIEW PLEASE! **


	2. Chapter 2

Surprise?

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own The Silmarillion or any of the characters in this piece. It all belongs to J.R.R. Tolkien.**

"Elrond?...Elrond?...Elrond! Wake up!" Elros exclaimed as he bounced up and down on his brother's bed.

"Huh? Elros? Why are you awake at this time? The Sun has not even come up yet!" Elrond responded groggily.

"I know that! However, Maedhros is always awake early. So if we want to make the surprise plan of ours work, we have to begin working." Elros explained, looking at Elrond as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Very well." Elrond replied, sitting up. "You have yet to even tell me what this plan is." He pointed out.

"We are going to sneak into the kitchens and make a cake to surprise Maedhros for his Begetting Day." Elros stated.

"Why must we do it now? Surely we will be able to get into the kitchens in the morning." Elrond pointed out.

"The cooks will be there in the morning. Not only will we be kicked out of the kitchens…" Elros began.

"But they will tell Maedhros what we did and we will be in trouble." Elrond finished.

"Precisely." Elros stated.

"Well then, I suppose we'd best head to the kitchens." Elrond responded.

Faster than either had ever gotten ready for the day before, Elrond and Elros were dressed with their hair brushed and beds made. They quietly darted out of their rooms and in the direction of the kitchens, ducking into doorways or other hiding spots at nearly every noise they heard so that they would not be caught and sent back to bed. Finally, the two found themselves at the kitchens, wincing as the door creaked loudly when Elros opened it.

"Well, the first thing we will need is a stool. There is no way we will be able to reach the countertop otherwise." Elrond stated as they entered the kitchen.

"Next we need a bowl to mix everything in." Elros continued as Elrond pulled two stools to the countertop. "Do you remember the one time when the cooks let us watch them bake so long as we promised not to touch anything?" Elros asked, retrieving a large bowl from a lower shelf.

"Yes, I believe I do. Why?" Elrond asked. The sheepish look on Elros' face told him everything he needed to know. "You do not know what we are doing, do you?" Elrond continued.

"Not quite. I vaguely remember watching the cooks…However your memory has always been better than mine!" Elros replied. Elrond sighed.

Upon retrieving the bowl, Elros and Elrond each stood on one of the two stools and set the bowl on the counter. Elros then proceeded to search every drawer in the kitchen for a spoon large enough to mix the ingredients they would need for the cake. Elrond set about searching for the aforementioned ingredients.

"Did you find the spoon?" Elrond asked, returning to his stool. Elros nodded and placed the spoon on the counter. "Very well. We have that, sugar, water, eggs and nearly everything else." Elrond went on to say, gesturing to each ingredient as he listed it.

"Where is the flour?" Elros asked, pushing some of his dark hair away from his face.

"I could not find the flour." Elrond responded.

Elros furrowed his eyebrows and climbed up onto the countertop to search the cabinets above it. Elrond raised an eyebrow as he watched his brother. Elros opened every cabinet, muttering to himself as he went.

"It must be around here somewhere!" he exclaimed, opening the final cabinet on that side of the room.

As if on cue, an unopened bag of flour toppled from the cabinet. Elros quickly caught it, though the top had broken and a puff of flour covered Elros' face. Elrond laughed.

Elros' eyes narrowed as he made his way back to Elrond and began to pour flour into the bowl they had. Fine flour dust puffed up from the bowl and Elrond sneezed, causing more flour to puff up from the bowl, settling in Elrond and Elros' hair and all over their faces. Elros laughed.

"Oh hush. And hurry up! If I remember correctly, the cake will need to bake for a long while, so we need to finish…whatever this is meant to be." Elrond replied, looking into the bowl.

"Very well." Elros replied, adding the other ingredients into the bowl as Elrond took the spoon and began mixing.

*Page Break*

"Happy Begetting Day, brother." Maglor said by way of greeting when he saw Maedhros that morning.

"Thank you." Maedhros replied.

"What do you say we go to the kitchens and break our fast?" Maglor asked.

"It is quite early in the morning. I doubt anyone will be there yet." Maedhros stated.

"That has never stopped you before." Maglor pointed out. A small smile made its way onto Maedhros' face.

"On one condition; you let me do the cooking." Maedhros replied.

"Why?" Maglor asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Why?" Maedhros echoed, mimicking his brother's look. "I still do not trust you in the kitchen, that is why." Maedhros answered, his smile growing a bit wider. Maglor chuckled, thoroughly enjoying this rare moment of humor from his older brother.

"I only burnt the one batch of cookies, and it was millennia ago." Maglor stated, knowing exactly the incident Maedhros was referring to.

"And yet you nearly burnt down the kitchen in the process." Maedhros added.

The brothers then walked in the direction of the kitchen, pausing for a moment when they heard voices inside. The two glanced briefly at each other, moving towards the door and listening.

"I do not know how long it is supposed to bake." Elros' voice sounded.

"Nor do I. How are we even supposed to start the fire in the oven? The coals have gone cold." Elrond's voice replied.

Maedhros arched an eyebrow and reached for the doorknob. Maglor stopped his hand and put a finger to his lips, motioning for them to be quiet. Maedhros nodded and slowly opened the door.

"Elrond, what do we do with the eggs we did not—Whoa!" Elros stated, slipping on the flour that now covered the floor.

Elros fell backwards, toppling the stool behind him. The two extra eggs he had been holding went flying through the air. Elros covered his eyes and Elrond, who had been holding the bowl filled with what was meant to be cake batter, winced as the unmistakable sound of eggs breaking rang through the kitchens.

Elros looked up to see Maglor and Maedhros standing in the doorway of the kitchens. Maglor looked absolutely dumbfounded. Elros looked sheepish and both he and Elrond paled at the sight of Maedhros. The eggs Elros had dropped had landed on him; he now had egg in his dark red hair, dripping down his head and all over his clothes. The look on his face was an almost frightening combination of anger, surprise, confusion and exasperation. Elrond and Elros looked at each other at a loss for what to do.

"What on Arda did you two _do _in here?" Maglor asked, looking around the kitchens. It was not good; flour was scattered everywhere, many of the cabinets still hung open, and there were splashes of whatever mixture Elrond and Elros had concocted all over the floor.

"And why _exactly _did you need eggs for whatever it is you did?" Maedhros asked, wiping egg off his face.

"Well…You see…" Elrond stuttered.

"Surprise?" Elros stated. Maedhros raised an eyebrow.

"Well…Elros and I thought." Elrond began, taking a few steps towards Maedhros and Maglor, slipping slightly on the flour. "Elros and I thought that we would do something nice for your Begetting Day today, Maedhros. And so Elros came up with the idea that we should make a cake." He explained.

"A cake?" Maedhros repeated.

"Yes! We cannot have a Begetting Day celebration without a cake!" Elros exclaimed, almost indignantly.

Maglor immediately connected this mess to the conversation he had with the twins three days prior and began to laugh. Elrond and Elros looked at one another nervously and Maedhros simply gave his brother a look.

"If you had told me that _this _was your plan, I would have been able to help you." Maglor told the confused and anxious elflings in front of him.

"What?" Maedhros asked his brother.

"Elrond and Elros approached me three days ago, asking when your Begetting Day was. I suspected they would plan something, though when I inquired as to what that plan might be, they would not tell me." Maglor explained. Maedhros was silent for a moment, seemingly at a loss for words.

"Thank you, for…attempting to do something nice for my Begetting Day; I appreciate the thought." Maedhros stated, and both elflings smiled brightly up at him. "However, you have made quite the mess in here. Someone must clean it and it will most certainly _not_ be me." He continued. Elrond and Elros' smiles fell at the prospect of cleaning the kitchens, but they nodded in understanding.

"Happy Begetting Day, Maedhros." Elrond and Elros said together, moving forward and wrapping Maedhros' legs in a hug. Maedhros paused for a long moment, not expecting the hug, before awkwardly putting his arms around the elflings.

"Please, brother, do help them next time." Maedhros whispered once Elrond and Elros let him go and moved away.

"I thought you did not trust me in the kitchen." Maglor retorted.

"I trust you more than I trust them." Maedhros told him. Maglor scoffed and proceeded to supervise Elrond and Elros as they cleaned. Maedhros left the room soon after.

*Page Break*

"Elros?" Elrond asked, looking up from the floor as he cleaned.

"Yes?" Elros responded, looking curiously at his twin.

"How did we manage to get flour on the ceiling?" Elrond inquired.

**Author's Note: So, it turned out to be only two chapters then…Alright. Well! I hope you enjoyed this random little crack!fic. I had fun with it. READ AND REVIEW PLEASE!**


End file.
